Apparatus for the manufacture of illuminating-gas.



. PATENTED OCT. 30, 190,6.

V l i W. H. ADAMS: F. POWELL.

APPARATUS POR THE MANUFAGTURE 0F ILLUMINATLNG GAS.

APPLIOATIONTILED JULY 16, 1904.

WILIAM- H. ADAMS AND FREDERICK POWELL, oF roiirLANngfoeoN,

* AssieNoRs or TvsifE'Nrr FIFTEEN 'oNE-,HUNDRnDrHs To lSAID POWELL, ANDj -1isIXrY4-foNE`-- 5 'HUNDREDTHS ro THEA OREGON .To all ,whom-it may concern:

Beit 'known that we, `WILLIAM H. ADAMS and FREDERICK POWELL, citizens of the United States, residing inPortland, in the 5 lcounty of Multnomahand Stateof Oregon, 7 have invented anew and useul Improvevment in Apparatus for the lvlanufa'cture of Illuminating- Gasof Whchthe following-is a specification.

m T he modern type of apparatus used for the .generation of what is known as co aLgas con'- siste, essentiall ,of a fire-brick furnace into whichil vare built `several fire-cla Around these retorts a very hot f e is kept '-15 burning'. The retorts are filled with bituminous coal and are hermetically sealed during thev period of firing, except as to l one outlet forthe escape of the gas distilled from the coal.' The best class of fire-resisting mate-A Wear and tear on them is excessive, because they are subject to great changes of temperature between the time of charging them with coal and the `time of the highest heating, whenthe last distillates are driven olf. The varyingchanges of temperature within the retortfr'esult 1n the formation of tars and watery products, (approximately one to two gallons per thousand feet of gas manufacf 3o tured..)' There is also a considerable p ercentageV of gas ywasted in leaks and .durin changes ofthe parts While feeding coal an removing coke,lso that the process has alfwa -s been an uncertain and expensive one, 3,54 an) notwithstanding its `superiorit "as an illu'minant has been superseded to a argeeX- i tenit'by the'cheaper'so-'calledwateregas.

f Qur invention is intended to supply aless vlexpensive and` enerally useful type of apfplaratus that? wil consume' any class of el which contains suflicient volatile hydrocarben, preferably "the eulm coals', peat, saw-'f dust, lignites,'cannel and bituminous coals, as well as crude oil, asphaltum,\ =&c., for the generation .o filluminating-gas. We accom- 1 plishv" the distillation yof `the iis-producing 'elements' and make them-intoed gas in an V ,apparatus theoperation ofnwhichis continuous' and simple. si Thefoperationof the ilpp- '5 ok lratus' being practically .continu'ous, we avoid the destruetivechangesmnwtemperature lto,

Specification of Letters Patent. Application lqddiily 16,1904.l Serial No. 218,800. I

retorts.l

rials must be used for 4these retorts, and the LADD METALS COMPANY, AnoiroRAjrioNgoF which the old-style retorts aresubject and avoid also "the loss of gas and the loss of time 1n emptying and recharging them. We vmake none of the usual b -products -of the gas process exce t asmal amount" of fixed carbon deposite on the inside of the retorts in the formy of a puref'coke." Ak portion of this coke may be used in the lowest :and hottest tier of 'retorts forthe purpose 'of'iiiially decomposing any water-vapor into water-gas and carbonio lacid (ifany) into ycarbon-:monoxid.

" Referring to the drawin', Figure r`lfis a vertical section' on thef'liney lof Fi 32'; and 65 Fig`` 2 isa horizontalsection onlth'e ineC D of ig'. 1. Fig. 3 isafw'ferticalsection on line ,MMofFie 1.` The chamber Pof the' eneratoi"is,v referably of elliptical shape yis elongate 'atthe base just above the rate s ofsto'fonn an increased area at t ezonefofcombustioni InA this manner we insure an additional mass of fuel in this zone, which desirable to thoroughly decomposegtheproducts combustion. .^,;v ,l

The fuel is admitted f o the chamber of the generator preferabl by ,tlie f eedf'd ce S, the operationof wfchfwillfjbeund stood. It consists, essentially",`of"a icylindricalcasing 0 'with openings at the ,wpand'bccm-i Inside of this casing andirttingitfclos 'ch ill withv fuel when Vthe'yf-are under 5 'the'f upper opening and dischare n'fthey the lower opening in',t e caslng-' f' der is made to revolveby vs iiltab It-thus introduces intofjth'eg n e' while preventingy thegfescape'f ythe small amount f unavoidably pockets from whchth itself.

air through that portion of the grate immediately below 'theports w'.

is a'yertical diaphragm` placed transversely `across the bottom of the generator below the grate and extending downward into the water in the ash-pan. This diaphragm limits the area of the grate through which the air and steam are applied by. the inlet W. The air and steam admitted through the portion of the grate described pass at first upward and then horizontally toward the outlet X in the same manner as the air from the side inlets W.V

. Z represents a steam-inlet entering the airipe W at a point close to the generator, and

represents poke-holes.

E is a pipe leading from the to and interior part of the generator throug the walls and the shell of the generator into the chamber F, where it is connected to one of a series of communicating retorts G. Through this pipe E all the gas which forms in the top of generator P and which is substantially free from air or products of combustion is driven by the pressure of the generator into the retorts Gr and there split up into fixed gases by the heatcreated by combustion of producerygas in vchamber F. f.

I is a valve regulating the flow through the pipe E. The fixed gas made in retorts G is then `passed through'pipe H to scrubbers and purifiers in the usual manner.

J and K are small pipes with suitable tips forming ygas -jets connected, respectively, with the outlet X for producer-gas and the top of the generator for illuniinatinggas. Small flames kept burning at these ,j ets form indicators which show at all times the quality of gases leaving the generator.

Our practice in making illuminating-gas with the described apparatus is as follows: The generator P is first filled to a sufficient height above the grate with wood to act as kindling. On top of this is added sufficient fuel of any character to bring the level somewhat above the outlet X. The fire is lighted through the poke-holes and increased by a gentle blast from a blower (not show'n in the drawings) or by natural draft through the air-inlets wand `w All openings in the top of the generatorare then. closed substantially air-tight.y ,The fire quickly spreads across the lower portion of the generator, igniting the'fuel up to the top of the outlet X, as

.shown by the dotted lines radiating from w and from the portion of the grate supplied by As soonlas this is accomplished a regular feed of fuel isA begun through the feeder S, the blast is increased, and thereafter a steady output of gascan be maintained.

The form of the generator, the points at which the blast is applied, and the position Iof the outlet X are such that the combustion produced by the blast is limited substantially to the zone indicated by the dotted lines and extending from the grate up to. the plane of the to of the outlet X. The combustion carrie on in this zone results in the generation of roducer'- gas, which is removed through t e outlet X and is burned in the chamber F, as described below. It will be seen at once that this limitation of the combustion to the space between the grate and the top of the outlet X divides the space within the generator into two separate and substantially distinct zones, the lower. of which we have described as the zone wherein combustion takes place'. the zone of distillation.

The fuel in the zone of distillation lying immediately upon the fuel which is in a state of combustion is heated and subjected to the same action as the coal in the retort of the gas-bench. Its volatile constituents are driven off in the form of gas, tar, and water vapor. These products of distillation (identical with those formed in the retort of the gas-bench) are removed as fast as` generated through the outlet E and constitute, when properly purified, illuminating-gas.

It isobvious that a regulation of the volume of gas removed through the pipe E is required to avoid, on the one hand, an outflow in excess of the quantity produced by distillation which would result in the entrance of some of the producer-gas from the combustion zone into the upper portion of the generator and, on the other hand, an insufficient The upper zone is.

outlet for these distillation products which would cause some of the rich illuminatinggas to be forced downward into the zone of combustion, thereby enriching the producergas escaping through the outlet X at the expense of a portion of the illuminating-gas.

To enable the operator to roperly regulate the How through the out et E, the two jets of ygas are kept burning, one taking producer-gas from the outlet X, the other from the top of the generator. Any loss of illuminating-gas is at once indicated by the color of the flame of roducer-gas, and any contamination of t e illuminating-gas by the producer-gas is at once indicated by the weakening of the other flame. It would seein at first glance that the regulation of the outlet E in order to pro erly operate the apparatus would require tiie greatest watchfulness on the part of the operator and.V great skill to detect the first indication of the presence of producer-gas in the illuminating-gas. In actual o eration, however, this is very simple. So ongas the flame of illuminatinggas shows the necessary quality of gas for the purpose re uired--vizilluminationthe fiow is allowe to continue through the outlet EL When the quality of the gas goes below a certain determined standard apparent to the eye, the outlet is reduced by partially closing the valve I until the flame again shows the required quality, or by the addi- IOO IIO

crude `petroleum tion of volatile-hydrocarbons in' the form of by fthewfeeder S or by SSIigha-y increasing the .Spee-d of the feed ofl mechanical feeder S and a v pounds is com leted, converting them intoy fuell by the feeder S the required quality of gas is-restored. l 1

` It is obvious that fuels poor in volatile hydrocarbons will make but a small quantity of distilled orilluminating gas. it is possible in our apparatus to add fuels rich 1n volatile hydrocarbons, such as crude petroleum,asphalt, lac., introduced either separately through the. feeder S ory mixed wlth the solid fuelland fed with it, thus in. creasing the product of illuminating-gas. A practically uniform feed of fuel through the eriodieal shaking of the grate-bars makes the operation con-` tin'uous and always under easy control of the p operator.

The gas distilled from the fresh fuel in the zone o distillation, identical with that obtained from fuel of the same character when `heated ,in the closed retortsof the gas-bench,

contains or is accompanied by watery vapors and tars and consists partly of hydrocarbons condensible at ordinary temperatures into If passed at once to scrubbing-towers, these condensable hydrocarbons a's well as the heavier tars and the water-vapor would be at once removed; but

by passing them while vstill hot through redhot `retorts the distillation of these compermanent or ed ases. These retorts are ept at aconstant 'gli temperature bythe combustion of the producer-gas generated in the lower zone of the apparatus. This constant tem v erature insures a long life to these retorts.y hese are s et in a brick combustionchamber with lends exposed and closed b removable cover, so that the removal o the .deposited carbon is facilitated.y The particular form of retort shown is only one of a number'of forms lthat may be used for -the purpose described.V

Asa precaution algainst the passage of any Watervapor throng the retorts or any carbonio ,acid contained in any producer-gasthat may et into the up er'part of the generato'r an pass over wit the illuminatmggas oneor two of the last retorts in the series maiy be filled with the broken pieces of carbon or coke removed from the surface of the retort.= This becomes incandescent and by its action in this condition on the water-vapor and carbonic'acid they are deeom osed into hydrogen and carbon monoxid. fter passing through the retorts the gas is passed through scrubbers .and manner, but with muc smaller loss, in the form of tar and condensable hydrocarbons than inthe ease of the old retort process.

The wast@ heat from the retort-chamber is used -for makin steam for operatin the machinery of te vplant-viz., the eeder To such fuelsv rifiers in the usual chinery required. There will be an excess of he reducer-gas above what isi-required to heat the retorts. Thus a by-produetis created which may be used lfor heating, power; and

t derived thereby. l

. It will readily be understood by one skilled in the art of making illuminating-gas that our process in a generator of the form' described constitutes 'a continuous distillation 'process equivalent in results to a continuous retort process, that any class of fuel may be used for purposes of combustion in thelower zone, and that any of the distillates of petroleum, rich hydrocarbons, cannel coals, or fat bituminous coals can be used to furnish the desired illuminants. The combustion of the fixed carbon elements of the fuel in the lower zonethe zoneof combustion-supplies the lheat whereby the volatile constituents are expolled from the fuel in the upper or zone of crude products of distillation are finally fixed and the distillation of the vtars. is completed in the retorts heated by the producer-gas made in the lower zone ofthe generator. the same time the water-vapor of the fuel instead of being condensed is 'converted into lwater-gas by passage through the hot retorts.

Between the purifiers and the gas-holder ani' exhauster is introduced, asin common practice, to draw the gas from the retorts through the scrubbers and uriiers'and force it into the holder. This ee s up the flow of as through the pipe E an the valve I.

la The generator for manufacturing illuminatinggas .having its air-inlet and an outlet Afor the products of combustion so located as in the lower part of the fuel, said enerator the removal separately of the products of distillation, and a retort. exteriorly heated by the gas from-the zone of combustion and Vinto which retort said conducted. `f

2. The horizontal generatorformanufacturingl illuminating-gas having means for "feedin the fuel at the to norma ly adapted to exclhde the air, an exit for the roducts of distillation above'the top of the fp for the products of combustion at opposite Isides of the generator and at the same level below the top of the fuel, a grate supporting the fuel, an ash-pan, and means for normally `sealingthe ash-pan against the entrance of air. f 3. The apparatus for generating illuminatng-gaScOmprSng a generator adapted to maintain a horizontal zone ofcombustion in the lower portion and a zone of distillation in the upper portion ofthe fuel, and having one .other purposes and considerable revenue be' l,distillation immediatelyy above, and these IOO to produce a horizontal zone of combustion also having an outlet above lthe fue ,-level for I I Oy products of distillation are such means being exit for theproductS of combustion and andistillation into fixed other exit for ther products of distillation, and

a `retort connected tol the last-mentioned ing-gas comprislng a generatori adapted to `maintain a horizontal zone of combustion inthe lower portion and -a zone of distillation in the u per portion of the fuel, and havin one exit orthe products of combustion an another exit forithe products of distillation, and a retort connected to the last-mentioned exit and serving to convert the products of distillation into iced gases, said retort being x 5 heated by the `products of combustion from the first-mentioned exit. 'WILLIAM H. ADAMS.

FREDERICK POWELL.

Witnesses:

ZERA SNOW,

' S. L. BRENNAN. 

